"i get up before the sun in the morning, get home after midnight"
darry driving into the sun every single morning on his way to work, and hating it. its bright in his eyes, he can't see, its stressful to drive like that even for a few minutes.
but after reading ponyboy's theme, and johnny's letter, and hearing cherry mention the sunset, i think maybe he sees them differently. or he tries to, at least. he tries to see what his kid brother loves so much about the sun's journey through the damn sky.
he starts to see the way the colors bounce off of different clouds. he starts to notice the birds waking up around him and singing as he drives to work. he starts to appreciate the way the sky changes into the pale blue he works under every single day. he starts to watch the mist or fog, and how the sun's rays filter through it. he starts getting excited as the sun lowers. not just because it means his work day is coming to a close, but also because hes starting to enjoy guessing what colors the sky will turn as the sun sets.
he starts to pause for a few minutes, every night, to watch the sunset. he watches the clouds shift, he watches the colors mix and swirl above him. and he thinks about ponyboy, and what he might think about this day's sunset. does he prefer the vibrant reds and oranges? or does he prefer when the sky cools to a chill pink and purple.
darry thinks about cherry valence, and how she might be watching this same sunset all the way across town, in another world. its still the same sunset. he thinks about the rest of the gang, whatever they're up to at the moment. he wonders if they've ever let themselves slow down enough to watch the sun set. he knows they probably haven't; two-bit can't stand still long enough, steve and ace refuse to delve too deep into their heads about anything. soda probably does, every once and a while. darry can picture him rolling out from under a car at the station and grinning at the paintings in the sky, his eyes bright and happy.
and darry thinks about jonny and dally. he sees dally in the deep, bright, beautiful reds and violets of a sunset after a storm. he almost laughs, imagining how dally might respond to that comparison. he wonders if johnny was right about dally never really seeing a sunset. darry figures he probably was.
he sees johnny in the golden sunrises, the ones that send beams of light shooting through the clouds. he thinks of johnny when he smells the dew every morning, and he can almost expect to see johnny asleep in the wet grass. he sees him in the sunsets with swirling clouds around the sun, almost covering it like his bangs used to cover his eyes.
sure, the rising sun is still bright in his eyes every morning. and sure, it's rays beat down on his back every goddamn day. and sure, he misses that heat when the sun disappears into the night. but now, darry doesn't mind all of that too much. now, he sees the world, finding beauty in the simple things.
